Heartless
by viktriap
Summary: Something is stolen from The Evil Queen. Something is stolen from the Mayor's office. In both worlds Regina sends the same man after the thieves.
1. Chapter 1

**Author's note:** This was written for a BigBang Challenge on livejournal. The story is complete which is quite a new thing for me, but I'm going to post it in chapters. If everything goes as planned I'm going to post a chapter every Sunday.

**Disclaimer:** Nothing belongs to me except the story itself.

This story was inspired by a video on youtube that was made to the song Heartless by The Fray, hence the title.

**Warning:** English isn't my native language, but I had to very nice people beta-read it and it got much better due to their work, so thanks to Kadeeleigh and miley-avril. Every remaining mistake is mine or got there after they sent it back.

**HEARTLESS**

Chapter 1

"I want you in my office. Now."

She didn't introduce herself, and didn't wait for an answer, just gave out her order and hung up.

Graham though knew the town's mayor quite well and from that simple sentence he deduced, that something had happened, something important that really angered Regina. He also knew that when she was angry – and honestly, her being angry was more the rule than the exception – there was no use in arguing. She ordered him to do something and he obeyed.

So, he redirected the office phone to his cell, closed up the department and walked over to the Town Hall. The mayor's secretary threw only a cursory glance at him and waved at the door. He was after all a frequent guest here and he never came without an invitation.

He knocked on the heavy doors and after he heard a faint "come-in" he stepped inside. The mayor was writing something in an exclusive-looking notebook, so he just stopped at the edge of the carpets and waited to be noticed. She finished writing and looked up at him. Her face was distraught and that never was a good sign.

"Last night something was stolen from my office. Something very important." She said without spending any time on greetings.

"So, would you like to make an official police report?" Graham asked as he pulled his notebook from his back pocket.

"No, put that away!" she snapped and he did so without comment. It wasn't the first time that Regina wanted to keep something off the books and most times he didn't try to find out her reasons behind her wishes.

"This is confidential and I don't want anything on file" she said.

Regina pushed her chair back somewhat away from the table but stayed sitting. She also didn't offer a seat to the sheriff, so he remained standing.

"Then what do you want me to do?" he asked.

"To get it back for me, of course. Don't play dumb." she said with an edge in her voice.

"What is it that was stolen?"

"Blueprints. You don't need to know any more than that." she said.

"Do you have any idea who has them?"

"If I did, I obviously wouldn't need you now, would I?" she snapped again.

Graham didn't even falter at the outburst. By now, he was very much used to her moods, they've been working together for ages, it seemed. Or – as Regina liked to remind him – _he_ worked _for her_. He learned to play this game a long time ago, and he realized that he could never be the winner in it, so he just tried to work with her rules.

"Where did you keep these blueprints?"

"In my desk, in a secret compartment."

"Can I take a look at it?"

"No." she said bluntly.

"Don't you think that some information would be helpful, so that I can find your property?" he asked, more amused than angry, and that just infuriated the mayor more.

"Don't forget who you work for, sheriff." she said with a cold smile. "Ask what you want, and I will decide whether I wish to answer or not."

Graham wanted to sigh, but contained himself, as pouring oil on fire wasn't a very clever thing to do.

"When did you notice that the blueprints were missing?"

"When I came in this morning, at about eight."

"And are you sure that they were stolen last night? How often do you open that compartment?"

"I check it every day. All the items in there are very valuable and I often have to use one or the other."

"But nothing else was taken?"

"No. Only the blueprints."

"It might be very helpful for me to know what the blueprints are of as the thief came specifically for those" he said simply.

"Maybe, but that's not something I'd like to share with you." she said with finality.

Of course she doesn't, but she still wants him to find them. As if he could work miracles.

"Was your office locked?"

"Yes, it was."

"Were there any signs of a break in?"

"No, I didn't see any."

"Can I take a look at your door, at least?"

She waved at the door indicating that he was allowed to do that. He had a small flashlight on his belt, and he took it off, opened the door and knelt in front of the lock. The secretary watched what he was doing with some curiosity, but when Regina appeared in the doorway, she quickly looked away. Obviously, Graham wasn't the only one who noticed Regina's bad mood. At close inspection, he could see small scratches around the keyhole. It was definitely tampered with, and by the looks of it, with a professional lock-pick. He stood up silently and ushered Regina inside. If she didn't want anyone to know about the theft, then he obviously wasn't allowed to talk in front of her assistant.

"Someone definitely broke in here." he said when the door was closed again. "And that someone was aiming to find the blueprints and nothing else. They also knew where to look for them as the room wasn't searched. My guess is that the actual burglar was a professional, probably hired by someone" he summarized. "Any idea who might have wanted the blueprints?" he asked again.

"No." Regina said adamantly, but Graham suspected that she was lying.

"Is there anyone else who knows about the secret compartment?" he asked instead of calling her out on his suspicions.

"Marco built the desk, so he knows." she answered.

"And no one else?"

"No one that I know of."

"Okay, that should be enough, for now." he said. "But if you think of anything else you would like to share, just call me."

Marco was the only carpenter in town, and a good man. Graham didn't think that he would sell information about his clients to criminals, or would in any way be connected to people who break into other people's houses. Maybe he didn't do it voluntarily, though. Graham also didn't know of anyone who could be called a professional criminal in town. There were a few trouble-makers, some aggressive ones and even some with shady businesses, but you could leave your house open during the night and nothing would be stolen. His only trail led to Marco, though, so he had no other choice but make the carpenter's shop his next stop.

OOOOOO

The warning bell woke him from a wonderfully peaceful sleep in his own small chamber. For once he was neither in service nor being punished and that was a rare occasion, so he was naturally frustrated at being woken.

He slept fully clothed as he used to in the forest. It gave him a sense of safety. He knew that it was false, but it still helped him sleep better and it was also a feeling that was denied to him when he was spending the night in the Queen's bedchamber. Thanks to this habit, he didn't need to waste time getting dressed, he just burst out of his chamber to see what the commotion was about.

The alarm was still going off and guards in full armor were running towards the courtyard. He stayed close to the walls to not get in their way. There were servants too. Some of them moved around in a panicked haze, while others cowered out of the way. The Huntsman saw one younger boy, belonging to the former group of servants. He just stood in the middle of the corridor, seemingly paralyzed in fear as a pack of soldiers came rushing his way. He was simply pushed to the floor, crying out in pain as he fell. All the guards ignored him and went on.

The Huntsman quickly stepped to the boy's side and picked him up off the floor before another squadron could trample him. The boy couldn't be more than ten and he looked at the Huntsman with wide eyes, his mouth slightly open in a fearful pant.

"Are you all right?" the Huntsman asked, looking the boy up and down. Nothing seemed to be bleeding or broken.

"Y-yes." he stuttered.

He seemed to be scared to death and the Huntsman wasn't sure what the boy was more scared of; the guards, the reason for the alarm, or the Huntsman himself. He knew that a lot of people in the castle thought of him as a dangerous being, more animal than human. They never talked to him and tried to avoid any eye-contact as if he would attack them if they looked at him the wrong way. Most times he didn't care but seeing that fear clearly written on a child's face was kind of disturbing.

"Stay close to the wall and be careful where you go." he said more roughly than he intended and turned away from the boy.

Instead of following the soldiers outside, he went toward the stairs and hurried up to the roof. From there he could see clearly in every direction. The guards were gathering in the courtyard but seemed to be more or less at a loss. The Huntsman, on the other hand, could see the three figures disappearing at the edge of the forest and he could also recognize the not-completely human forms: they were trolls.

_But why would trolls break into the Queen's castle? _

The forest around the castle was deep and dark and after a few moments, he couldn't see the escaping creatures anymore. He looked at the woods longingly, as he always did when he came up here, but there was really no use in pondering the impossible, so he turned away and walked back down slowly.

The throne room wasn't very close to his chamber, but the Queen's angry voice rang out throughout the corridor. She was definitely having a tantrum. He had no desire to be on the receiving end of her wrath, so he started back to his own chambers. At the entrance though, he was stopped by two guards who for once didn't wear their usual helmet that would have covered their faces.

"Her Majesty wants you in the throne room" the older one said with a disgusted frown. "Come with us!"

He grabbed the Huntsman's arm and pulled him forward, in a very unnecessary act of showing authority. A few months ago he would have shaken off the hand, maybe even hit the guard but now he just followed them meekly. He had learned the hard way that he had no say in what happened to him.

There was still some defiance in him but he learned to use it in the most subtle ways possible (going up to the roofs for example, when he had nothing to do there). Even by obeying every single rule (or at least every rule he was aware of, because sometimes new ones appeared from out of nowhere), he couldn't go a week without severe punishments, but at least his heart has stayed in its box for weeks now.

The throne room was quite crowded when they stepped inside: the Queen's father, the captain of the guards, the head of the council and a dozen soldiers were in the room. The huge mirror that decorated the wall behind the throne and the other one on the opposite side were both misty but the ominous figure of the Queen's chief advisor couldn't be seen. He usually stayed away when there were so many people around.

"What took you so long?" the Queen asked when the three men stepped inside.

"He wasn't in his chamber, Your Majesty." the older guard said with a deep bow and at those words her furious eyes turned to the Huntsman.

"And where the Hell have you been then?" she asked angrily.

"I heard the alarm and went to the roof to see what was happening." he answered truthfully.

"And what was it that you saw?" Regina asked.

"Three trolls disappearing into the woods, Your Majesty."

The Queen raised her arm and her magic pushed him into the wall hard and kept him there, his feet at least ten inches from the ground. There wasn't a single person in the room who didn't flinch at that demonstration of power.

"And you didn't think this was important enough to report immediately?" she asked in a furious whisper before turning to the rest of the room. "Leave us alone!" she said.

Everybody obeyed. They hurried out of the room as fast as they could, except the Queen's father, who threw a sympathetic glance at the Huntsman and the captain of the guards, who stopped at the door, quite foolishly.

"I could send a squadron after them if you so wish..." he started but the Queen cut him off angrily.

"No! I'll handle this!" and the doors were slammed in the captain's face by the force of her magic.

The Queen turned back to the Huntsman and he tried not to flinch. Even after all this time and being subjected to it regularly, her magic frightened him. When she used it, he was absolutely helpless. It was at times like these that he really felt like he belonged to her, like he was not a real human being but an object, a tool to be used.

"Your pitiful attempts at defiance are usually amusing but I'm not in the mood right now." she said, as she waved a hand releasing the Huntsman from her magical force field.

He landed on his feet and waited for her next move.

"Those trolls stole something important from me and you are going to get it back. I can trust no one else with it, but I know for sure that you won't betray me. You are to leave immediately. Ask my father for your old clothes and weapons. But remember, I'll have my eyes on you, and if you're not back in twenty-four hours, I will take out the box and send the guards after you."

He knew of course what she meant by that. At the start of his imprisonment, he was stupid enough to try escaping. He had traveled almost five miles before the excruciating pain in his chest brought him down. The agony was unbearable, and by the time the guards arrived – hours later – he would have begged them to take him back if he had he been coherent enough to speak. He never tried to escape after that occasion. He was 'tamed' as the Queen liked to say.

So now, he just bowed his head in submission and left for the mission without further questions.

TBC


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2

Marco has spent the morning working on an antique rocking chair that was brought in by Mr. Gold for restoration like practically all of his more unique jobs. He had no idea where Gold got his merchandise, but he surely acquired many beautiful pieces. Marco was always happy to work on them and this chair was no exception, because it was a piece of art. He was so immersed in his work failed to notice that someone had entered his shop, until the person cleared his throat.

Marco actually jumped at the noise, turned too quickly, and swept a bunch of tools from the working bench, behind him, on to the floor.

"I'm sorry, I didn't mean to startle you." said Graham (because he was the visitor), as he quickly stepped closer to help pick up the fallen tools.

"Never mind. It was my fault, I wasn't paying attention." said Marco pleasantly.

Between Marco and Graham, the tools were back in place quickly.

"Thanks for your assistance. Now, how can I help you? Are the drawers of the file cabinet stuck again?"

Marco had been the Storybrooke caretaker as long as he could remember. Other than in his official capacity as the town handyman, Marco rarely talked to the young sheriff. The carpenter had always had the impression that the Sheriff wasn't a very sociable person. Sometimes, Marco thought that the young man seemed to be very lonely. He rarely saw him with people his own age and if he were dating someone, the whole town would know. He had sometimes considered inviting him to join Archie and himself for their weekly dinner at Granny's, but he never had. Somehow it always escaped his mind but next time he would surely remember to do that.

"No, Sir. It's nothing like that. I just need to ask you a few questions." the sheriff said.

"Oh." That surprised Marco.

Marco knew that Storybrooke had its fair share of criminals. He had often seen suspects in the cells at the sheriff's office, and he was even aware that a judge held court in town once a month. What he didn't know was how anything he might know would be of any interest to law enforcement.

"You built a desk for the mayor's office, didn't you?"

"Yes, years ago." he answered still not knowing what this could be about.

"And the desk has a secret compartment?"

"Yes, Madam Mayor asked for it." he answered truthfully.

"Has anyone asked about that desk, lately?" came the next question.

"As a matter of fact, yes. What is this about, Sheriff?"

The younger man looked uncomfortable at the question.

"I'm sorry, but I'm not able to tell you that right now." he said after some hesitation. "Who asked you about the desk, Marco?"

"Mr. Gold. He came by a few days ago and brought in this beauty." he pointed at the rocking chair. "He told me that he wanted to renovate his study and that he would like to have a bigger desk. He said that he really liked the one I made for the mayor's office. Then he mentioned that he was hoping to find a desk that could hold the more precious pieces of his collection of unique letters and other important documents securely. He asked whether I could build something like that for him. I showed him some plans I had."

"Was the design for the mayor's desk among those?"

"Yes, I'm quite sure it was. Am I in some kind of trouble because of that?" he asked, really worried now.

"No, not at all, but can I see exactly what you showed him?"

"Of course, I'll bring them out, just let me find them."

He went to the office and found the plans quickly. There was order in the shop even if it didn't seem like that to an outsider. When he walked back out, the sheriff was pacing, obviously deep in thoughts.

"Here they are." Marco said. The younger man turned towards him immediately.

Marco spread the plans out on the working bench and Graham bent over them and studied the drawings silently.

"I guess it wasn't hard to figure out which one belonged to the mayor." he said after a few moments.

"I guess not. It's quite distinctive" Marco admitted. "What are you looking for?"

"I've seen everything I needed to see" Graham said. "Thank you for your help, Marco."

"You're welcome, though I don't see how I was any help."

Graham smiled slightly, but it didn't really reach his eyes and he seemed preoccupied.

"Believe me, you did. Bye, Marco."

Marco stepped to the window and watched as the sheriff walked down the street, towards Mr. Gold's pawnshop. At the door he stopped, seemed to hesitate a bit, then went inside.

ooooo

As soon as he left the throne-room, the Huntsman went to Lord Henry's quarters. The Queen's father was the steward at the court, commanding all the servants, his quarters though showed his true position. They were next to the Queen's private chambers and consisted of a waiting room, a reception room, a dining room and six more. He also had a few personal servants. One of those let the Huntsman in and said immediately that Lord Henry was asked to the Queen and led the Huntsman into the waiting room.

"Stay here." he said glaring at the Huntsman with deep suspicion. Before he left he closed the door leading deeper into the quarters with a master-key.

The Huntsman didn't have to wait long, only moments later Lord Henry arrived, carrying a package. The Huntsman bowed his head.

"My Lord."

"I told you to call me simply, Henry." the older man said.

"Her Majesty told me to address you as my lord, so that's what I'm doing. My Lord."

Lord Henry sighed but didn't comment on it any other way.

"Her Highness told me that she gave you task. Here are your clothes and your knife." he said and gave over the package.

"And what about my bow?"

"In Her Majesty's opinion you wouldn't need that." Lord Henry said with an apologetic half-smile. "I'm sorry."

"So am I. Her Majesty's trust in me is incredible" the Huntsman said dryly then he suddenly realized who he was talking to. "I'm sorry, My Lord. I didn't mean to be disrespectful…"

"Don't worry about it." the older man interrupted. "If someone knows how hard it could be to satisfy Her Majesty, it's me. I hope you'll succeed."

"Thank you, My Lord" the Huntsman bowed again and taking his things, he left to his own room.

He changed into his own well-worn leather pants, black shirts and a vest. He attached his hunting knife on his belt. All those things were packed into his cloak but he decided to leave that on his bed.

No one stopped him as he was leaving the castle, most people didn't even look at him. As soon as the walls were behind him, his breathing got easier and when he stepped into the woods it got even better.

He felt alive again as he walked under the canopy of oak trees. It was a wonderful feeling to be in the green instead of the grey stones of the castle. He derived comfort from wearing his own clothes. He almost felt like himself, even if he knew that it was a fantasy that wouldn't last.

He found the trolls' tracks easily enough; the foul creatures didn't pay much attention to cover them. Broken branches and clear footprints showed him the way. He still didn't know what he would do when he caught up with the trolls. He had only a knife as a weapon – the Queen didn't allow him to bring his bow and arrows –and trolls were much stronger than a mere human.

Not that he was too worried about his own safety. Since that fateful day when the Queen took his heart, he was prepared to die at any given moment and with the Queen's frequent mood swings he had come close many times. In all honesty, he often provoked the Queen's anger intentionally, hoping that his nightmare would finally end. He was in a brighter mood today though– thanks to being back in the woods – so he hoped that he would come up with something.

Only half an hour into his tracking he glimpsed a white spot to the left, between the trees. He smiled to himself and whistled. The wolf came through the brushes in a rush, his tail wagging furiously.

"Hey, boy! How are you?" he asked as the wolf danced around his legs.

It took a while for the animal to calm down as they hadn't seen each other in months. When he stopped for a second, the huntsman knelt at his side and petted him affectionately. Seeing his brother almost brought tears to his eyes as the wolf's safety without him was his greatest worry.

"You shouldn't stay so close to the castle, my friend" he said. "There are a lot of hunters around here and the Queen's guards patrol here, too. You could be in danger."

The wolf sat on his hind-legs, letting the man scratch his ears and listening to the words with obvious interest. When the man finished speaking the wolf whined and licked the man's hand.

"I know." he said. "I missed you too."

The wolf pushed his nose against the man's thigh and barked playfully. The Huntsman couldn't resist, and for several gleeful and stress-free minutes, they wrestled around in the smooth grass. They then stretched out next to each other on the cool grass, as the Huntsman scratched the wolf's stomach affectionately.

"Sorry, Brother, but my time is short. I have to get back in..." he looked up at the sun, "...twenty-three hours."

He stood up and looked sadly at his only friend.

"Come on, we have trolls to hunt."

TBC


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3

Graham had always found Gold's shop disturbing. All of those old, strange objects made him feel as if he was being watched by the ghosts of their previous owners. He knew it was just his imagination, but he couldn't shake the feeling. He actually could never understand why anybody would want to collect things or why people would feel attached to objects they owned.

His own apartment had only the most basic furniture and necessities in it, and definitely no sentimental decorations. Once, when Regina visited him, she declared that he was living like a caveman and she offered some suggestions on how to liven up his apartment. He had no wish to change his home environment, though. He told her as much, and Regina never visited him again. Since then, she just asked _(ordered, _a voice in his head whispered_) _him over to her own house. It was one of the rare occasions when he said no to her and stuck to it.

Gold's shop was packed so full with old things, that it took some time for Graham to realize that the owner himself wasn't in the parlor. Then he heard voices from the back-office. Raised voices, actually. One of the voices belonged to Gold and he was obviously arguing with someone. The tones were muffled but Graham listened closely, hoping to catch a few words.

"… we had an agreement…" said Gold firmly. The other man, whose voice Graham didn't recognize, mumbled something, that Graham was positive ended with the word 'money'.

The door to the back-office burst open and a man in his fifties rushed out of the shop, without even looking at Graham. Graham knew who that man was, as he practically knew everyone in Storybrooke. It was Greg Stone. He and his five sons lived just outside of town, in a cabin in the woods. He stored that information away for later, as Gold came out from behind a crowded shelf, leaning on his customary cane.

"Sheriff, what a nice surprise!" he said with a smile that contradicted his enthusiasm.

Graham disliked the pawnshop and in all honesty, he didn't like the shop-owner, either. Gold smiled a lot, but Graham had yet to see a genuine one from him. They met often because Gold was also a member of the town's council, but Graham tried to talk with the other man as rarely as possible.

"Are you looking for some gift for your mistress?" Gold asked.

"Who?" asked the Sheriff, somewhat bewildered.

"Your girlfriend, your love…" the other man clarified.

"I don't have a girlfriend." Graham said.

"Of course, you don't. I must be mistaken."

"Yes, you must be."

Regina wanted to keep their relationship a secret, if what they had could be called a relationship at all. Graham himself wasn't exactly eager to advertise it, either. Most days he wasn't even sure why he had agreed to have this thing with her. He had a feeling, though, that Gold knew the truth. Gold knew a lot of things that weren't his business and Graham began to have a really bad feeling about this whole situation. If he ended up in the crossfire during some wicked war between the town's two most powerful people, then the only loser would be him...and he would probably just be written off as collateral damage.

"Then how can I help you?" Gold asked, still smiling.

"I hear that you plan on renovating your study."

"And why would the sheriff be interested in such plans?"

"Did you ask Marco about desks with a secret compartment?"

"Yes, I did." the smile was still there but Gold's eyes got harder.

"I also heard that you were especially interested the designs of the desk in the mayor's office. Is that right?"

"The Mayor sent you here, I see."

"Please, answer the question." Graham said.

"Is this an official investigation, Sheriff?"

Of course, Gold would ask that. Beside the judge, Gold was the only person in town who had a degree in law and Graham was sure that he knew his rights. He also knew politics, and he knew Regina, as well.

"No, not yet."

"Then I think that my remodeling plans are none of your business. And tell Regina if she wants something from me, she should come here herself, instead of sending her hunting dog."

For a moment they stared each other down.

"If there's a crime committed in this town, then it's my business, no matter who's behind it."

"Are you charging me with me something?"

"We'll see." he said simply and left the shop.

Outside, he looked up and down the street, but Stone was gone already. Not that it was a problem, as he knew exactly where the man lived. Stone and his sons were the kind that regularly kept the Sheriff busy, starting fights, hunting illegally, 'borrowing cars' and harassing women.

He didn't waste much time, hurrying back to the station to get the car and go out to the Stones' house. That was when he ran into Regina for the second time that day.

oooooo

The Silver River– the longest known river in the realm – ran through the Enchanted Forest on a four-mile long route. There were only two bridges that provided access to the opposite shore. One of those was built by an ancient king and it was wide enough to let two wagons cross side-by-side. You had to pay quite a toll to use it, though.

The other one was a much smaller, wooden bridge that a long time ago was free to use. Then the trolls declared it their property. If one was lucky, and arrived at a good time, one could cross it without any mishap as trolls were born wanderers and often left their home unguarded. But, if you wanted to use the bridge when the trolls were there, you had to pay and not always with gold. Sometimes the trolls were hungry for blood and flesh, not money.

While he was still free, the Huntsman used to avoid both bridges. Even if he had any money (which he never did), he would have never been welcomed at a crowded place like the King-bridge and he had no death-wish to face the trolls. He knew some **fords** along the river where he could cross easily, without running into anyone.

He knew the forest well and that meant he also knew where the trolls lived. The tracks, he was following definitely led towards the troll's bridge, so they were obviously going home.

He left the castle in the early morning and it was afternoon by the time he had reached the **riverside**. He came out of the deeper woods about half a mile from the bridge and he went on more carefully from there. His wolf-brother stayed by the trees but followed the man closely.

The hovels of the trolls were made to blend into the environment, using wood, stone and dirt, but the Huntsman knew where to look. Locating the troll hovels, he could see that there was no smoke coming from any of them. That indicated that the trolls weren't there. The Huntsman knew that he was about two and half to three hours behind them, because the trolls had a head-start, and could move much faster than a human. He approached quietly, to make sure that there really was no one around.

Three sets of tracks led away from the group of hovels. He couldn't assess where they had gone from here, as all of the tracks seemed to have happened in the same time-frame. One was left by a lone troll that led to the south, another belonged to a three-person group, who went over the bridge, before turning to the East. The third group consisted of five creatures, who had also crossed the river, but then went on towards the North.

The Huntsman didn't know what they had stolen...the Queen hadn't told him...so he couldn't even make a guess as to which tracks to follow. If he chose the wrong one, he could go on for hours without success, and then wouldn't have enough time to get back to the castle. He estimated that he would have to start his route back from here by midnight at the latest, unless he wanted to be late and suffer the consequences.

After some consideration, he decided to stay where he was and wait. The trolls had to come back here sometime. Maybe they had just gone hunting after a job well done.

Instead of waiting impassively, he looked around inside the huts for anything that looked like it might have been stolen from the castle. He found nothing, and when he was finished, he simply sat down in the middle of the bridge to wait for the trolls' return. The wolf joined him, lying down, resting his head in the man's lap and they waited.

TBC

Thanks for reading, please let me know what you think!


	4. Chapter 4

**Author's note:**

I couldn't answer the second review I got for this story, so I thank it here. And because you said that the chapter was short I decided to post another one before Sunday. It's not much longer than the other scenes because the concept was one scene in both worlds per chapters, each about one and a half pages long.

I'll try to post two chapters a week from now on.

**Chapter 4**

Regina was still fuming.

_Who would dare to steal from her? Who would even know what to look for? _

This break-in was more than just someone committing a crime, this was personal, and it was about the curse. As far as she knew, nobody knew about the curse but her. She sometimes had a bad feeling about Gold. After all, he was the one who created the curse and he was an infamous cheater and master of manipulation. But it had been more than a decade now and Gold had never given any indications that he knew.

But the curse – like every curses – was unpredictable in many ways. When Regina had cast it, she couldn't be sure of what would happen. One moment she was in Snow White's castle, and the next she woke up in a luxurious bed in a big house. She knew that she was the all powerful mayor of a small town in Maine, but she also knew that she used to be an all powerful Queen in a magical realm. Sometimes her old memories faded, especially her knowledge of magic. There were a few things that were transported here in their original form - magical things, like her vault, Maleficent, her apple tree, and a case of other powerful objects. Some had already been used, others she kept for later occasions. It was strange that these objects were the ones she sometimes forgot. That's why she had made blueprints and maps of the buildings where she had hidden these precious objects.

If someone found them, it could be catastrophic. Could be, because there was a chance that people wouldn't even notice the magic, just like the fact that nobody realized that they were frozen in time. That was the strangest thing about the curse. Nothing ever changed. It didn't mean that nothing happened, though; people lived their lives, children went to school, adults changed jobs, had relationships, there were crimes committed and so on, but in the end, time didn't pass, no one died and no one could change their lives and no one in town even realized it. Maybe they wouldn't notice an enormous dragon living in the basement of a town-building, either, but she couldn't count on that.

Despite everything that was going on, she had things to do, and a town to lead. She was on her way to the judge's office when she ran into Graham, almost literally. The sheriff seemed to be deep in his thoughts as he turned the corner but noticed Regina just in time to stop.

"Miss Mills" he greeted her with a nod.

"Sheriff" she acknowledged. "Is there any news?"

He looked around first and started to talk only when he saw that there was nobody else on the street.

"Actually, there is. Would Mr. Gold have any reason to want to steal those blueprints?"

"Why? Does he have them?" Regina asked, her worst suspicions coming back again.

"I don't think so, but I think I know who does, and I also think that Mr. Gold was the instigator."

"The bastard" Regina cursed. "So, you can get them back?"

"I'm just heading out that way, we'll see."

"You make sure, you do. This is very important to me."

"Yes, Ma'am" Graham said.

For some reason, he always fell back to formalities when she was harsh with him and she _had been harsh_ the whole day, so far. She realized, though that she wasn't actually angry at _him_ right now. Probably everybody else in town, but at the moment Graham was the only one who was helping her.

"Thank you for your help" she said more kindly and she could detect actual surprise in the man's eyes at that. "I know I was rude this morning, but I was very nervous."

"It's understandable, don't worry about it" he said with that silly half-smile of his that reminded her why she wanted him in her bed in the first place.

He was ruggedly handsome and his body was lithe but hard with muscle that was earned by a lifetime of roaming the woods and not by hours preening at the gym. Finding the blueprints, was very important indeed, but suddenly she realized that she also needed something to relieve some stress. And sex with Graham was always a very easy way to do that.

"Come on" she said. "Let's have an early lunch together at your office."

They were only a few blocks from the sheriff's department and she quickly led the way there.

"Really?" Graham asked, raising an eyebrow. "I thought you needed me to find your things" Graham tried to protest but she shushed him and pulled him after her.

"I do, but I need other things too" she said suggestively.

She could barely wait for Graham to open the door and let them in. He then lowered the blinds, making the office totally dark and making sure that nobody could see them from the street. He turned on the lamp on the desk, as Regina huddled up to his back, embracing his waist.

"I'm sorry for how I behaved earlier." she whispered in his ear in all honesty, before kissing his neck.

"I forgive you, just this once." he said., as he had a thousand times before and as he would a thousand times more.

Regina was prone to relieving her stress by using the sheriff as her punching bag. It was exactly the same as in the other world, only there, she used physical abuse more than verbal. And over there she never said sorry.

Graham turned without moving out of Regina's embrace and kissed her gently on the cheek. Regina turned into the kiss and the next moment their lips met passionately.

Some things were the same but others were very different from their old home. Her relationship with Graham was no exception. In fact, while Graham never initiated their encounters, when Regina reached out for him, he was always eager and very active. In the other world, the Huntsman never wanted her. She always needed to force him with magic to participate and he just suffered through the sex passively.

Regina didn't have illusions. She knew that Graham didn't love her, but Regina didn't love him, either, so that was fair enough. But in this world, there was definitely some kind of emotional connection between them.

Graham's talented hands moved all over her body, on her breasts, on her back, then they moved lower, pulling at her skirt and finding their way under it. Regina moaned when Graham started to caress her.

As Graham's fingers started to move more quickly, Regina stopped thinking about the past.

ooo

The sun was going down by the time the first group of trolls returned. The Huntsman could hear them trudging from far away – there were five of them, he could distinguish both their voices and the sound of their feet – unfortunately the largest group. The wolf raised his head, then sat up and started a low growl.

"Easy." the Huntsman said and the wolf went quiet immediately.

The Huntsman stood up and leaned against the banister with obvious casualness, as if he had nothing in the world to worry about other than watching the glowing water of the river. He knew that any normal person would feel fear right now. Even with his stoic view of his own death, he knew that he should be nervous, or should at least feel _some_ excitement, but he was as calm as the water under the bridge.

It wasn't true what the Queen had said to him on his first night as her captive. She had said, that he wouldn't be able to feel anything ever again. He still felt things, but his emotions were dim, more like echoes or shadows than true feelings. He always knew, though exactly what he should feel in certain situations and he always acted true to that knowledge.

He didn't feel fear in this dangerous situation, but he was careful and had a plan.

An older troll stepped out of the woods ahead of the others. The Huntsman recognized that this was the father and head of the tribe by the more fancy furs he was wearing. Trolls live in small tribes, in which all members belonged to the same family and they were very patriarchal. They were very much like wolves in that aspect, but unlike the Huntsman's kin, trolls were bloodthirsty and cruel. The four younger creatures followed behind the eldest, making a great deal of noise.

When they saw the man and the wolf standing on their bridge the trolls stopped, stunned in their tracks.

"What are you doing here, human?" growled the leader. "You should have crossed while you had a chance, because now you will have to pay. And I'm not in a very good mood."

"I don't want to cross the bridge" the Huntsman said simply. All five trolls looked at him dumbfounded at that.

"Then what are you doing here?" the troll asked.

"I was looking for you."

"At least we won't have to look for dinner." said one of the sons with a grin, showing his brownish fangs.

The wolf understood the threat, jumped up and bared his teeth wildly.

"Maybe we will get new furs, too." another son added, looking at the animal.

The Huntsman made a quiet noise, warning his partner, who stepped back obediently behind his human companion.

"I was sent to get back what you have stolen from the Queen." the Huntsman said.

The trolls' leader laughed out loud at that, then waved at his sons.

"Kill them both!"

The four younger trolls started to move as one.

"Wait!" the Huntsman raised his hands. "I offer a deal."

"What deal?" asked the old one, stopping his sons with a raised finger. The Huntsman had heard rumors that trolls were always interested in a good deal. It seemed the rumors were right for once.

"I fight one of your sons. If I win, you give back the item you have stolen. If he wins, you can do whatever you want with me." He laid down his ultimatum.

"You are calm for one whose life hangs by a thread." the troll said with some amazement.

"I don't have anything to lose. Do you?"

"Even my smallest child could beat a lowly human" the troll declared with confidence. The Huntsman also knew that the only thing bigger than a troll's body was its ego and that they loved to fight.

"Prove it." the Huntsman said with a coy smile.

The troll stared at him for a long moment then laughed again.

"You know what, human? I like you. We have a deal. And maybe I will let you live after the fight. We could really use a servant around here...or seeing how funny you are, maybe a jester. I choose Urkh for you to fight."

Of course the chosen one wasn't the smallest child, rather the largest amongst the present ones. Two heads taller and twice as wide as the Huntsman, he stepped forward with a cruel grin.

"This is going to be fun." the human whispered, so that only his wolf-brother could hear it.

The wolf must have agreed with the sarcastic assumption, because he looked up at Huntsman with worried eyes and whined quietly.

TBC

Author's note2: I didn't write this story for reviews, I will post every chapter no matter how many people comment on it, but I'd really like to know what you think about it. Thank you for reading!


	5. Chapter 5

****Here's the next chapter, I hope you will enjoy. It's not too long, but the next comes very soon. Thanks for reading and please let me know what you think.

**Chapter 5**

"Bring back what was taken from me and we will have a repeat performance tonight" Regina said with a smile that made her look like the cat that's just eaten the canary.

He kissed her one last time before he opened the door. Her mouth tasted of mustard, because after their love-making Graham made some sandwiches for the both of them from the scraps in the department's fridge and so they really had an early lunch together.

"I'll do my best." he said, as he turned the key.

"I know you will." Regina answered and stepped outside. She still looked worried, but the edge that had been there in her voice that morning, vanished. "Thank you, Sheriff." she added more formally, standing already in the street.

Graham just nodded and watched as she walked down the street. She was beautiful. And strong. And sometimes quite abusive, if he was honest to himself. And he was almost absolutely sure that he didn't love her. Still, every time she asked, he jumped. Sometimes, he wondered if that was what love felt like, because he had no idea. He had nobody in his life – no parents, siblings, not even a dog – to love or be loved by.

Regina disappeared at the corner and Graham went back inside. It wasn't much use speculating about his non-existing love-life and he had other things to do. He took the car-keys and his handgun from the safe. Most days he didn't carry a gun, but the Stones _were _an aggressive bunch.

The drive was about ten minutes but the house couldn't be approached by car, so he walked the last half mile. The Stones tried to built their house at a place where they couldn't be easily surprised but it was an easy hike for Graham, who spent most of his free time in the woods. He often came out here for a run or hiking. Today, it was quite a warm day, so he left his jacket in the car, unbuttoned his vest and rolled up the sleeves of his shirt.

When he got to the house it seemed abandoned. It was a mismatched building really, the first part of the house was built of brick, but in the back, there was a room addition made of wood. About 15 yards away there was a barn, a lonely horse tethered in front of it. Aside from the animal, there didn't seem to be a living soul around. From his previous experiences, Graham knew that if any member of the family was home, there would already be a loud protest against trespassing and abuse of authority.

Anyway, he knocked on the door like a dutiful officer of the law. When nobody answered, he moved around the house and looked in through one of the windows. It opened into the kitchen. On the counter there were about a dozen empty beer bottles, and the sink overflowed with dirty dishes. He checked the other windows too – there were three altogether – but couldn't see anything relevant.

He looked around as much as he could without a warrant, peeking through the windows, circling the house and combing over the garden. Then he realized that he actually wasn't here as a cop, there was no official investigation, so – after some hesitation - he picked the lock.

The house inside was in quite a disarray, exactly as one would expect a house look like, when six men lived without female company. He systematically went through every floor, looking into every cupboard, case and drawer, but there were no signs of any blueprints.

After the house, he checked out the barn too, but that was almost empty. On one wall a few tools were hanging, there was a bench standing under it and an old motorbike stood in the middle. He looked around, searching for a possible hidden door or something but found nothing.

By that time it was dark outside, and there was still no sign of the men living here. He decided to go back to town. Maybe he would find one of them there. There were a few places the brothers hang out regularly. On his way out Graham petted the only horse and then walked back to the patrol car and drove back to town.

After parking the car at the station, he started to walk the streets and that's how he ran into the Stone boys and Ruby.

ooo

The trolls obviously found the idea of this fight very amusing. They decided that it would take place on a small clearing behind their huts. On their walk toward the clearing, they were slapping Urkh on his shoulders approvingly while they made demeaning comments to the Huntsman, who followed them silently.

The clearing was probably used for fights sparring regularly, as there were logs lying around for the audience to sit on. The members of the family took their places, except Urkh, of course who took off his coat, making a show of displaying his extremely muscled upper-body. His arms were as wide as the Huntsman's thighs and he was also more than a head taller.

The Huntsman only rolled up the sleeves of his black shirt. He wasn't wearing a coat, just the shirt and a leather vest. Then he sent the wolf into the forest. He needed some convincing, but finally, the animal lumbered away and disappeared into the trees.

Then, the Huntsman concentrated all his attention on the fight ahead. He took another good look at his opponent. The troll had a curved dagger on his belt, but he didn't touch it. He obviously thought that his fists would be enough to beat a human.

"The fight lasts until one of you yields or dies" the elder said and looked at the Huntsman with a broad smile that clearly said that there was no question about who the loser would be. "There are no rules. You can start now" he finished and the two opponents turned face to face.

For a few seconds they circled each other, but soon Urkh went on the offensive. The Huntsman evaded four blows easily enough, then he hit back from his defensive position. He caught the troll on his right side, just under the ribs, and Urkh growled angrily. Though the blow didn't seem to to bother the troll physically, even with the Huntsman's entire strength into it, it did serve to anger the troll greatly. The troll's attacks became wilder after that. Quick hits showered from left and right, but the Huntsman was faster than the troll and he was never hit. The fight moved around the clearing, as the Huntsman was pushed closer and closer towards the edge of woods.

When they at last reached the first line of trees, there was much less place to move and a left hook from the creature found its way to the Huntsman's temple. It was only one hit, but it was staggering. He went dizzy, and dropped to the ground. He rolled instinctively, almost uncoordinated, but it was enough to get out of the way of the troll's trampling foot.

The Huntsman was lucky that the constant movement had tired the troll a bit and he stopped for a second, panting. The Huntsman had blood flowing into his eyes from where his temple was torn open, but he scrambled to the feet, swaying a bit. He pulled himself together quickly, seeing his chance. Using all of his body weight, he spontaneously slammed into Urkh. The troll lost his balance, and the Huntsman pushed on, shoving Urkh into one of trees, his head banging hard against the tree-trunk. The Huntsman punched the troll in the face once, twice and third time, until blood from the creature's nose squirted everywhere.

The troll cried out, partly in pain, partly in anger, and lashed out. The blow hit the Huntsman on his lower ribs and for a moment it left him breathless. He fell to one knee.

"Come on, Urkh!" He heard from behind, as the others cheered on their brother. "Skin the human!" shouted one of them.

When he finally managed to take a breath (which caused quite a piercing pain in his side), the Huntsman saw, through the fresh blood in his eyes, that the troll had pulled out his dagger.

The Huntsman shook himself, like his wolf-brother after a rain, and pulled his own knife as he stood. He rose just in time to counter the troll's thrusting motion.

The two blades clashed and the Huntsman knew at the second cut that Urkh made a big mistake when he chose the blade over his fists. If they had stayed with hand-to-hand combat, the troll would have needed just one more hit, and the human wouldn't have been able to stand up again. With the knife, though, he was much better than the creature.

The troll thrust, the Huntsman fended and then attacked, cutting Urkh on the hand. The next attack went down the same way, only this time the man bent and cut his opponent on the thigh. After that, the battle became simple. The troll got angrier and angrier, hacking left and right, but missing, while the Huntsman wounded him again and again. The wounds weren't deep, but painful and they weakened the troll. At last – after another counter – the Huntsman rolled with the motion, moved past the troll's arm, pushed him hard and at the same time kicked at his already injured leg. The creature fell to the ground, the Huntsman dropped onto him and put the knife against his opponent's throat.

"Do you yield?" he asked.

The troll growled something unintelligible and tried to throw the human off but the Huntsman weighed him down with all his power and pushed the knife harder. A thin line of blood ran down Urkh's neck.

"Do you yield?" the Huntsman asked more forcefully.

"Yes, he yields." the elder's voice came from behind and Urkh closed his eyes in defeat.


	6. Chapter 6

For once I said the truth! As I couldn't post on Sunday, here's the next chapter and I promise that we are going in a direction with this. Once more I wanted to thank my betas, Kadeeleigh and miley-avril, because without them this story would be so much worse.

Thank you for reading and again: please tell me what you think.

Also, I changed the rating to T. I'm always trying to be very careful with ratings, but I think I over-rated this one.

**Chapter 6**

Bikers rarely visited Granny's, and Ruby – although she liked to play the tough girl – had a bad feeling about them from the moment they arrived. She knew of course who they were. She had seen them a few times in town and down at pool-hall. The Stone brothers were quite infamous. Their visitors were Rafe, the oldest, Rob the youngest and one of the twins...either George or Tim – Ruby couldn't tell for sure. At least it wasn't all five of them present. After drinking a few beers and firing a few rude comments at Ruby, the three of them left quietly.

She stayed to close up shop after everyone had left, and then started to walk home. She had already forgotten about the bikers, but they appeared out of nowhere, just as she turned onto the street where the motel stood. They cornered her before she could look for a way out.

"Isn't it dangerous for a beauty like you to be walking around in the dark?" Rafe asked.

She frowned at him.

"If listening to your lousy jokes counts as dangerous." She answered flippantly, but she regretted it when she saw the wolfish smile appear on his face.

"Oh, we have much more on our minds than joking around, don't we guys?"

His two brothers nodded eagerly.

"We heard that you really like bad boys." said the youngest, who was no more than twenty.

Rafe moved closer and put his big hand on her ass. She jerked away violently.

"Take your hands off of me!"

"Oh, Ruby baby, don't play hard to get, we all know the truth." Rafe said and he pushed her against the wall, feeling her up roughly.

She tried to kick out but she couldn't find any leverage and the other two were coming closer, too. One, (the twin), grabbed her arm in an iron grip. She wanted to scream, but Rafe pushed his mouth against hers and kissed her forcefully. His free hand that wasn't pushing her into the wall was moving down, between her legs. He smelled of beer and sweat and she cried out, but that too, was muffled by his mouth.

"Let her go!" A voice suddenly rang out from the end of the street and she could hear running footsteps.

She knew that unmistakable accent immediately and she sighed in relief. The men let her go and three of them turned towards the newcomer.

"We were just fooling around, sheriff" Rafe said placatingly.

The sheriff stopped a foot away from the three brothers and he carefully kept his eyes on them as he addressed her.

"Are you all right, Ruby?"

"Yes." she answered, but her voice came out weak and trembling.

"Please, go inside the motel." Graham said and Ruby realized that they were only two doors from her home.

She did as she was told, her limbs still trembling. She stopped just inside the door and watched what was happening outside through the glass. She was close enough to hear what was being said, amazed how calm the sheriff sounded facing the three brutes.

"You are under arrest for assault." the sheriff said. "I suggest you come to the police station willingly."

One of them laughed out loud.

"And how do you plan to arrest all the three of us, when you are alone?" Rob, the youngest one, asked mockingly.

To be honest, Ruby wondered the same thing. Maybe she should call someone. But who? The sheriff _was_ the police force in town. There was no one else, not even a deputy. There was Sidney who helped out in the department sometimes as a volunteer, but she had no idea how to contact him.

"You really want to try it out?" the sheriff asked with a smile.

"I don't see a gun on you, so I guess we'll take our shot." Rafe said.

"That would add assaulting an officer to your list of charges. Just so you know." the Sheriff said with a shrug, his smile still in place.

The brothers obviously didn't care about their criminal record much, or at least Rob didn't, because he jumped the sheriff with a shout. Ruby cried out, too, in warning or in fright, she wasn't sure, but she didn't have to worry. Rob attacked with fervor, but Graham sidestepped him easily. He grabbed Rob's raised left hand and twisted it hard. Rob cried out again, in pain this time, and was forced to turn to prevent a broken arm. When his back was to Graham, the sheriff pushed him, and Rob fell to his knees.

Graham stepped back in a defensive posture. The two other brothers attacked together. The movements were too quick for Ruby to follow properly. Graham grabbed Rafe's arm, made a half-turn, pulling the guy man with him, slamming him into his brother. The twin fell at the sudden impact, but Rafe turned back, somewhat dazed, but still putting up a fight. Graham dodged a fist, and then punched Rafe in the face. Rafe crumbled to the ground without a noise. Meanwhile, George (or Tim) was attempting to attack the sheriff again, but he actually had become extremely slow in comparison to the other man. Graham even waited a second, letting the attacker come closer, before striking out again – the movement reminded Ruby of a predator attacking – striking George on the chin. His head snapped backwards forcefully, and even from behind the glass door, Ruby could hear something crack. George was strong enough to stay standing, and even made a slashing move with his right arm, but the sheriff bent under it, and his fist pounded against the biker's left side, leaving him breathless. This time he too fell and stayed down, panting and moaning.

By this time Rob stood up, but seemed to be more careful now. He stayed a foot away and his eyes moved between the sheriff and his brothers worriedly.

"You still think I can't take you in?" Graham asked. To Ruby's amazement, the attractive sheriff was still smiling, and barely breathing any harder than he had been before the fight.

Rob raised both his hands in surrender.

"Good idea." Graham said. "Turn around and put your hands behind your back. You have the right to remain silent. Anything you say or do can and will be held against you in a court of law. You have the right to an attorney. If you cannot afford an attorney, one will be provided for you. Do you understand these rights I have just read to you?"

"Yeah" Rob mumbled.

"You too?" the sheriff asked the other two brothers. "Because I don't want to repeat myself."

Rafe mumbled something and George (or Tim) nodded.

"Good."

The sheriff put handcuffs on Rob, then moved to the other too and pulled some zip-ties from an inner pocket. When all the brothers were secured, he pulled them to their feet.

"Step to the wall." he said and they obeyed meekly. "Ruby?"

She opened the door and stepped outside.

"I'm here."

"Are you all right?" he asked again.

"Yes, I'm fine."

"I'm gonna need a statement from you later."

"Of course."

"Could you come in tomorrow? Or I can come to you if you would feel more comfortable at home."

"No, it's okay. I can go to the station tomorrow."

"Okay, I'll see you tomorrow then. Take your rest. Don't worry these three won't bother you ever again. Right, guys?"

They just groaned something, but seemed much less dangerous now, standing cuffed at the wall.

Graham waved at her once more, and then herded the Stone brothers away. Ruby looked after them for a few second but when they disappeared at the corner, she went inside to follow the sheriff's advice.

ooo

"And now give me back what you took."

The Huntsman straightened, panting and pushing a hand against his aching left side. He could barely believe that he actually won this fight. He still was in a precarious position, though, as he couldn't be sure the trolls wouldn't just kill him, anyway. The best way to avoid that seemed to be to play it tough.

All the trolls stood up, only Urkh stayed sitting on the ground, massaging his neck. The trolls' leader looked at the Huntsman with a dismayed frown, but hearing his words, his frown turned into an even uglier snarl.

"We don't have it." he growled.

"So, you lied."

"You didn't ask whether we had it. Besides, I didn't think that I would actually have to deliver."

For a moment, the Huntsman had really thought that this mission would be successful, but now it seemed he had to go back empty-handed. The Queen will not be happy. He shivered as he thought about telling her. Even in her best mood she could be dangerous, but when she was angry then he could anticipate a world of pain.

"Where is it?" he asked in an empty voice.

"We didn't steal it for ourselves, it was just a job. We gave it over to the buyer."

"Who is the buyer and where can I find them?"

"You won't be able to get it back from her. If you go there you will surely die."

"What does it matter to you? You wanted to kill me yourself an hour ago." he pointed out.

"True." the troll said and after some hesitation he added. "The blind witch has it."

The Huntsman had heard about the blind witch before, she was almost as infamous as the Queen, but mostly rumors. He knew that she was dangerous, but nothing could be more dangerous than disappointing the Queen.

"Where can I find her?"

"Do you know Lake Marble?"

He nodded.

"Two miles north from there, is a clearing with a strange house on it, you can't miss it, really. The witch lives there."

"Thank you."

He won't be able to go after the stolen item, but information was still better than nothing.

He turned and left the trolls. The wolf joined him after a few feet, nuzzling against his hand.

He looked up at the sky to see the time.

"Well, brother, we better get going."

And so, they started back to the castle as quickly as they could.

TBC


	7. Chapter 7

****Thanks for the nice comments, I hope you will like this chapter too. Read and enjoy!

**Chapter 7**

Dawn was coming. The towers of the castle could already be seen and he still had about an hour to get back, when the familiar searing pain tore into his chest. It lasted only for a moment but it was enough for his legs to give out from under him. He reached out blindly and caught a wayward branch. This way, he didn't fall on his face, just dropped to his knees. The world greyed out for a second and when he opened his eyes again, the wolf was licking his face and whining pathetically.

"Easy, friend. I'm all right" he said, though his voice still hitched a bit. "I'm fine now."

He pulled himself up, and swayed a little, but the wolf's body against his legs kept him steady.

"Thank you, brother." He petted the wolf's head. "It's better if you leave now. You know that you can't come any closer than this."

The animal whimpered, but sat down obediently and just watched as the Huntsman walked towards the castle.

If the Queen was impatient enough to send a message like this, then he couldn't expect much good.

Two guards were waiting for him at the gates. They didn't say anything, just escorted him silently to the throne room. The Queen was alone, but the two guards stepped up to the two sides of the door and stayed inside.

"Did you bring it back?" the Queen asked.

"No, Your Majesty." there was no sense in sugarcoating it.

The Queen raised her hand and the magic slammed him into the wall so hard that the wound on his temple ripped open again and he felt new rivulets of blood dripping down his face.

"Do you have any explanations?"

"The trolls worked for the blind witch and they had already delivered the item to her by the time I caught up with them. I didn't have enough time to go after her." His voice sounded hoarse because her magic pressed on his chest and lungs, almost suffocating him.

"The blind witch?" the Queen frowned.

The Queen's magic subsided for a second, only to be pushing back even harder a moment later. This time he heard a rib crack on his left side, the same side that had been beaten by the troll's huge fist. She was pacing in front of him, incensed, while he could do little more than to try to breathe. Then she stopped and waved at the guards.

"You can leave now!"

The two men bowed and left, as the Huntsman was released from the wall. He managed to stay standing even if he swayed like a drunkard.

"All things considered, you did well." the Queen said and he sighed in relief. "Did you find out where the blind witch can be found now?"

"Yes, Your Majesty."

"Good boy. Tell me everything that happened." she ordered and sat down on her throne.

"I followed the trolls to their quarters. They weren't there, so I waited, and soon enough a small group of them came back. I challenged one of them to a fight. Since trolls like to fight and can't resist a dare, they agreed. We fought, I won, so they told me what I wanted to know. I would have gone after it if I had more time, Your Majesty." he finished.

"It's better, you didn't." the Queen said. "You would be dead if you had gone after her. But maybe that was your intention all along." her expression darkened as she looked at him contemplatively and the Huntsman tensed up again. "Challenging a troll. Was this another attempt at suicide?"

"No, Your Majesty…" and this time he was actually honest about that, but his excuses were cut off.

"I suspect it was. Did you forget again that you belong to me? You can't just sacrifice yourself on a whim!"

"I didn't have a choice, Your Majesty." he said.

"And you might even believe that. It seems I need to remind you of your place again."

The Huntsman lowered his head and tried to look as ashamed as possible.

"Wash the blood from your face, first" the Queen said. The Huntsman did as he was told, he walked over to the basin that stood on a small table in the corner and washed his face until the bleeding stopped.

"Are you injured anywhere else?" she asked.

"Just bruised, Your Majesty."

"Follow me then." she said.

They walked out of the throne room, through a secret corridor and into the Queen's private quarters, more precisely into her bed-chambers. He stopped when she did, in the middle of the room, where she turned and circled him. Then she moved up close and started to unlace the leather vest he was wearing.

"You belong to me, my pet. You are not allowed to offer yourself up to others. Especially not to some lowly trolls."

The vest landed on the floor and it was followed closely by his black shirt. A dark-lilac bruise, twice the size of a human palm could already be seen on his left side. He suspected that he had a few similar ones on his back, and he surely would gain more, thanks to the Queen's recent ministrations in the throne room.

"This looks painful." the Queen said as she put a delicate hand on the bruising. Suddenly she pushed down on it hard. He cringed and he couldn't help but let out a quiet gasp.

"Is your rib broken?"

"I don't think so, Your Majesty. I believe it may be cracked."

"Then you can still perform your duties. Lose your pants!"

He pulled off his boots and unlaced his pants, pulling them off too. He collected all his clothes, and put them in a neat pile on the floor. Then he just stood there, fully naked and waited for her next orders.

When he first had to 'perform his duty' as the Queen put it, he tried to fight against it. When that didn't work, a deep feeling of shame followed. Every time he blushed like hell, and couldn't even look at her. But that wasn't the case anymore. He took these sessions stoically, more or less. He guessed that a person could get used to anything if they didn't have any say in what happened to them.

The Queen observed him with a disgusted frown.

"You are filthy. Go, clean yourself up, but quickly."

She waved at the adjoining small room, where she usually bathed. Again, he did as he was told and came back a few minutes later, his body glistening with water.

"Much better." the Queen said, looking him up and down. She was still fully dressed, although she loosened the corset of her dress somewhat. "Come here, now!"

After that, it was order after order: 'undress me', 'use your hands', 'use your mouth' and he did everything exactly the way he was told to do, closing down his mind, not thinking about what he was doing. He was pulled out of his haze when the Queen squeezed his most private parts harshly. She forced her magic into him, urging him to harden. It hurt, as always and he knew that he would stay that way until she was finished with him. He lured himself back into the blissful mindless state and stayed that way, even after the Queen got bored with simple acts of pleasure and brought out her riding crop, too for her much harsher games.

ooo

This wasn't the first time the Stone brothers went through the booking process, so it all went smoothly. Graham made sure to go into great detail about the consequences of attempted rape and assaulting a law enforcement officer during the process. He then interrogated the three brothers separately in his office. By that time, they seemed to be quite worried about the situation, so it was actually easy to get them to talk.

They all said the same story. Their father, Greg Stone made a deal with Gold. Gold paid their father five grands for the break-in, that was then committed by Greg himself and one of their absent brother. It wasn't clear which one, because Rafe said it was George, Rob said it was Sam and Tim said he didn't know, but they all swore that it wasn't them. The break-in was successful, but Greg Stone - seeing how eager Gold was to get the blueprints – thought that he might be able to get more money out of the shop-owner, so he had hidden the merchandise, rather than deliver it to Gold.

Less than an hour later, Graham was back in the forest, looking for a decayed tree behind the Stones' residence. All three of the brothers had assured him that the blueprints were hidden in a tree...they just remembered differently which one. It took some time to find it, but after checking out about two dozens tree-trunks, he at last pulled a leather roll from a big hole in a rotting larch tree.

There was no reason for him to open the roll. Regina clearly said that she didn't want him to know what they contained. She would surely find out if he disobeyed her wishes. It would only lead to conflict and maybe this time Regina might even fire him. She had threatened him with that enough times. He should simply hang the roll over his shoulder and get back to town.

Instead he unrolled the package.

It wasn't what he expected, not that he was entirely sure _what_ he had expected at all. The first blueprint was of the closed down laundry on Main Street. There was a picture of the building and three pages detailing all three floor of the abandoned building. On the left edge of the page, a single word was written: Maleficent. Graham had no idea what that meant. The second wasn't hard to identify, either because Mills Crypt was written on it. It clearly showed a secret passageway, located directly under Mr. Mills' coffin. It was definitely strange, creepy even. Graham found this one even more intriguing than the first. So much so, that he simply couldn't take his eyes off of that secret passageway, it was almost magnetic.

He was so immersed in the blueprints, that he didn't hear someone approaching him from behind and the attack took him by surprise. Out of nowhere, a body slammed into him and he dropped the prints and fell against the tree-trunk, hitting his shoulder so hard that he lost feeling in his whole left arm. Instinctively, he pushed back and drove his right elbow backwards. He hit something solid, and his attacker groaned painfully. Graham shifted to the left but the other man followed suit and the sheriff still remained pinned against the tree. His attacker was tall and heavy, but Graham elbowed him again – in the stomach this time – and then a third time somewhat lower. The man behind him cried out and fell back, pulling Graham with him. They both fell to the ground.

Graham could see now that his attacker was Greg Stone, probably the most dangerous member of the family. He saw something flash in the other man's hand. Graham moved backwards quickly, a move that probably saved his life. The knife came down and embedded itself into his left thigh. Stone pushed down on it and Graham cried out, but at the same time, punched forward. Stone fell backwards, causing the knife to be torn from Graham's thigh. It actually hurt more than when it cut into him. Despite the pain, he pushed himself to his knees and went after Stone. It was anything but graceful as he landed on the other man, but at least he was on top. He went for the right hand that held the knife. He grabbed onto the other man's wrist and twisted it hard. Stone moaned and let go of the weapon. Graham threw it away.

It was a wrestling match after that. Though he was about twenty years older, Stone was strong, but Graham was quicker and more skilled. In the end, he got the upper hand despite the fact that he felt blood flowing down his leg. He knelt over Stone and pushed his lower arm against the other man's throat. The man still struggled.

With his free, still numb, left hand Graham pulled the handcuffs from his belt and attached one end on Stone's left wrist, the other end to a stray branch on a tree next to them. Then, he moved backwards and just sat, breathing hard and in pain. He needed some time to pull himself together enough to be able to speak.

"You are under arrest."

TBC


	8. Chapter 8

**AN:** Sorry for the long delay. I had some computer issues, then an ear infection (that robbed my will to write) and then I had some trouble with a scene in this. But now it is ready, so here it is. There are two more chapters to go.

So, read and enjoy. And please let me know, what you think!

Thank you.

Chapter 8

He must have blacked out at some point because he awoke to an empty room. He was lying in the bed, on his stomach and he was sore all over, especially his back and inner thighs. He pushed himself up on shaky arms and looked for his clothes.

He was in the middle of putting his shirt back on when a guard burst into the room.

"Her Majesty is expecting you in the throne room." he said with a look that was equally disgusted and frightened. That was how people usually looked at him. The guard turned, clearly expecting the Huntsman to follow he did so meekly, trying not to limp too much. He was just thankful that the guard wasn't sent in ten minutes earlier when he was still naked and vulnerable.

The Queen was alone when they arrived.

"Guard! Bring me a young servant, the first one you meet, but no older than twelve." she ordered immediately, and then turned towards the Huntsman.

"So, tell me, where does the blind witch live?"

The Huntsman repeated what he learned from the trolls.

"I can go and retrieve your property, if you allow me to be away for a longer period of time." he said. He didn't actually feel like walking miles and fighting some dangerous witch in his current state, but the Queen just smiled at his declaration.

"That's more complicated than you can imagine. The blind witch has special powers. No adult person can get closer to her home than a few feet." she said.

The last sentence suddenly gave meaning to the Queen's former order, and the Huntsman stared at her in shock as he realized her intentions.

"You want to send a child?" he asked. As soon as the words were out, he knew his tone was all wrong, and really, the Queen looked at him with a frown.

"Watch your tongue, Huntsman!" she said. "You don't know how important an item we are talking about."

"Is it important enough to sacrifice a child?" he couldn't stop himself from asking.

"Don't pretend you care, Huntsman. You don't have to the heart for it" a spectral male voice said from behind him, causing the Huntsman to shudder. He looked back and saw the huge mirror in the opposite corner, its surface, a smoky fog, and behind the fog, the face of a dark-skinned man could be seen. During the time he had lived in the castle, the Huntsman had seen and experienced all kinds of magic. Of all he had seen, this strange man who lived in mirrors and was the Queen's chief advisor, was the most sinister. Also, for some reason the being seemed to have a grudge against the Huntsman.

"I might not have a heart, but I still know what's right and what's wrong." he said defiantly, covering his unease.

"Silence!" the Queen ordered. "You will do as you are told. You will take the child to the clearing where the blind witch's house stands. You will send the child in and you will bring him back if he comes out, or come back alone if he doesn't."

"And if I won't? Are you going to kill me?"

"You wish." she said coldly. "I guess you can imagine that I can come up with worse things than that."

They stared at each other for a long moment and it was the Huntsman who lowered his eyes. He knew what she was capable of and yes, he also knew that there were much worse things than death.

Just then the guard came back, leading a boy by his shoulders. The Huntsman remembered that child, they met the day before, during the trolls' attack. He couldn't be more than ten and he was trembling like a leaf as he was pushed inside. The guard was dismissed and then the Queen asked the child:

"What's your name?" she sounded almost kind.

"J…John, Your Majesty." the boy stuttered, his eyes moving from the Queen to the Huntsman and to the mirror.

"You're lucky to have been chosen to do a very important job for me. This man..." she pointed at the Huntsman "will take you to a special house. You must go in there alone, without being noticed, and you must find and bring back a black leather satchel, similar to this." She picked up a satchel from a small table and showed it to the child. "You must not touch anything else in the house and you must be very quiet. If you're not careful the blind witch that lives in the house will catch you and you don't want to find out what happens then. Do you understand?"

John seemed to be ready to faint at that point, but managed to nod.

"Go, then! You will leave immediately."

The boy left on trembling legs.

"Do you have anything else to add, Huntsman?" she asked without looking at him.

"What happens if the witch catches him?" he asked through gritted teeth. He knew that he had few choices in this, but he also felt that this might be more than he can handle.

"Well, the blind witch has a special appetite." she said simply.

The horror of that statement struck him hard.

"You can't wish to do this!" he burst out. "Sending a child to his death..."

"Enough!" she snapped. "Go, or don't go and suffer the consequences. I'll find someone else to escort the boy."

He stood for a second, unmoving, then came to a decision.

"I'll go" he said quietly.

"Fine. Keep this on you at all times." She held out a small mirror towards him, in which the same fog swirled ominously. "And we will talk about your insubordination when you come back." she finished.

He nodded, took the mirror and hung it onto his belt. He couldn't change her mind and he couldn't betray himself, so he left the room with the knowledge that he probably wouldn't live to see another day.

ooo

All things considered, it was a stupid thing to do.

After he pulled himself together, Graham buckled his belt around his thigh to keep the bleeding under control and herded the still reluctant, but securely handcuffed Stone back to the patrol car. He kept up a cool façade until the man was in the back-seat and both doors locked.

Then he limped to the back of the car and for minutes just breathed, leaning against the boot. He knew that the belt couldn't stay on long. He also knew that he probably should call in and ask for help. But he didn't have a deputy; he only had Sidney, who he didn't trust at all. The salary for a deputy was in the department's budget but there was no one in town, who seemed to fit. So Graham worked alone and sometimes let Sidney help out on Regina's insistence.

He still could call the hospital. They would surely send out the ambulance for him. But if he did that, everyone would know about it. _Regina_ would know, too. And right now he didn't want that.

He pushed himself away from the car and opened the boot. There was a well-packed first-aid kit inside and a few bottles of water. He took out a scissor, some bandages and a bottle of painkillers. He took two pills immediately. Then he pulled every necessary thing into arm's reach and cut a bigger hole in his jeans to make the wound accessible. It was deep and ugly, ragged at the edges. He took a deep breath and loosened the belt. Blood immediately bubbled up from the wound, but it didn't seem too bad, at least it wasn't arterial blood. All the same, it hurt like a bitch.

He pushed a gauze-pad against the wound, then more until no blood seeped through. Then he tightly bandaged the leg. Only when he tied the bandage and cut the residue, did he realize that he was gritting his teeth almost hard enough to be painful.

He put everything back into the boot, then walked back to the front of the car, limping badly and got in.

"Hey, Chief, I was afraid you fainted or something" Stone said from the back. Graham looked into the mirror and saw that the man was grinning but there was also some real worry in his eyes. The sheriff said nothing, just started the car.

By the time they got back to the department, Graham was only slightly dizzy. He led Stone in and locked him up in the cell next to his sons'. He left the leather roll on his desk, then went to the washroom (where he also had a first-aid kit). He treated the wound more thoroughly there, disinfected and re-bandaged it. He suspected that he needed some stitched but he would worry about that later.

He also had some spare clothes in the office, so he changed his jeans, then drank an orange juice from the fridge, to decrease the effects of blood-loss. He went back to the office again, wrote a note and pinned it on the blueprints in case Regina or someone else came by.

Then he left the station and walked to the cemetery and to the Mills' family crypt. He has never been inside, and if he hadn't seen the blueprints, he wouldn't have found anything suspicious about it.

It took some effort to push the coffin aside, but when it moved there really were stairs leading down. He limped down and through a short, dark tunnel he arrived in a chamber. It got natural light from somewhere, but at the moment he didn't care about that. In front of him, there was a strange wall, filled with odd cases. Just looking at them caused his heart rate to soar and he felt dizzy. He tried to convince himself that it was just the blood-loss.

His eyes wandered over the wall and then zeroed in on one case. He didn't know why, but he needed to touch that case. It spoke to him with a buzzing sound, resonating throughout his whole body. He stepped forward like he was sleepwalking.

He simply knew that when _– if_ - he touched that case, things would irreversibly change. He stopped in front of it, with his hand raised and hesitated. He was breathing heavily and dark dots danced in front of his eyes. He knew he was hyperventilating. His fingers moved in slow motion and then they came in contact with the case.

It was like lightning struck him.

He shuddered, his knees buckled and he fell. He hit his head on the marble floor, but he didn't even feel it.

He saw himself in leather and fur.

He heard his wolf-brother's howling.

He felt the freedom of the forest.

He felt the pain of his heart being ripped out.

Then he passed out.

When he came to, he was lying on the floor, trembling, and knew that he had to leave this place. Regina _– the Queen -_ could never find out that he had been here. She would kill him - _turn his heart into ashes._ He felt fresh blood on his thigh, and he was weak, but he knew that he had felt greater pain before and he would again if he didn't vanish from here. He remembered. He remembered everything.

He pushed himself up, tore a piece of his shirt and cleaned up the blood before leaving the crypt as fast as he could, that actually wasn't too fast. The coffin seemed much heavier than before and he was gasping for air by the time he managed to close the secret passageway back up. His pulse was drumming in his ears and he staggered out of the crypt almost blindly.

His old, but newly awakening instincts told him to flee into the woods, find a hiding place and get his strength back there. But right now it was like there were town persons in his head. He was the sheriff of this town and he was responsible for its inhabitants. The hospital wasn't that far, he could go there. Regina didn't need to find out what had happened. He just had to keep up his act.

_Except if she had magic. Then she would know. _An almost frightened voice in his head whispered.

Slowly, he started to walk back to town. He had to do something about this and fleeing wasn't the solution. He will find a way when his mind wasn't this hazy.

By the time he turned onto Main Street his sight became blurry and what he did couldn't be called walking anymore, more like shuffling. Blood was freely flowing from the wound in his thigh.

He could make out two people further down the street, two women, Ruby and Mary Margaret, he guessed. _No, that wasn't right. _She was Snow White. The one person who could beat the Queen. He had to…

The world tilted around him, just as the two women turned towards him. But they quickly went out of focus, just like any coherent thoughts of his.

TBC


	9. Chapter 9

AN: Here's the next chapter, I hope you enjoy. If so, please let me know. I changed a few things in this one after it was checked by my two fabulous beta-readers, so the mistakes are all mine.

**Chapter 9.**

As the Huntsman exited the throne room, he found the boy sitting just outside, next to the wall. His knees were pulled up to his chest and he was sobbing in despair.

The Huntsman wasn't very good with people and children even trickier to handle than adults, though they were mostly free of prejudice. He cleared his throat but the boy didn't look up, so the Huntsman crouched in front of him and put a tentative hand on the child's narrow shoulder.

"We have to leave now" he said.

John just buried his face deeper in his knees. The Huntsman heard a scornful laugh from the mirror, hanging on his belt.

"This starts out as a very promising mission" the man in the mirror said gloating.

"Shut up" the Huntsman said simply and turned back to the boy. "Everything will be all right, John, but we really need to leave" he tried to sound less rough than he usually did.

The boy looked up slowly – with fearful eyes – but continued his sobbing. The Huntsman hesitated some more, but then he picked up the child. John didn't fight him, he actually grasped at the Huntsman with both hands and buried his face in the man's shoulder.

That was how they walked out of the castle.

The child was skinny, but he wasn't a baby anymore and right now the Huntsman wasn't in the best condition. His back hurt more and more the deeper they went into the forest. His steps wavered once in a while, and he felt his limp become more pronounced. He felt relieved though, that John had stopped sobbing some time ago and his trembling eased.

When the Huntsman staggered again, the boy raised his head from the man's shoulder.

"You can put me down now." the child said in a hoarse voice.

"Are you sure?" the Huntsman asked back but he couldn't really hide his relief.

"Yes, I am."

He put John on his feet and looked him over. The child's eyes were red and puffy, but he wasn't crying anymore and he stood steady. The Huntsman gave his canteen over and the boy drank eagerly.

They walked silently for a while, John with his head down, sniffling once or twice and the Huntsman threw covert glances at him. This whole situation reminded him of his walk with Snow White. Once again, he was supposed to lead another innocent soul to death. They were quite close to their destination, when John suddenly stopped.

"I've heard about this blind witch. People talked about her in the castle" the child said. "She eats children, they said. She's going to eat me, too." his voice was hollow.

The Huntsman looked around to make sure that they were close indeed.

"No, she won't." he said, as his left hand slithered onto the damn mirror.

John looked him in the eyes, for the first time, with doubt and real terror.

"You can't know that."

"I can, because we're not going there."

He ripped the mirror from his belt and threw it against a tree trunk with all the strength he possessed. An inhuman shriek could be heard as the glass exploded into hundreds of pieces.

He crouched immediately in front of the child and spoke quickly, because he knew that the djinn would be back in the castle soon.

"Listen to me, because we don't have much time. We are one mile south from a village where good people live." At least he was sure they would be good to _this _child. "Go on in that direction..." he said, pointing North."...and you will find them. Tell them what happened, and they will help you."

"What about you?" the boy asked in a trembling voice, with round and wide eyes staring at him.

"Don't worry about me, just run." he said, pushing John for good measure.

John looked at him for one more second, and there were so many different emotions on his face that the Huntsman couldn't even start to decipher them. Then he turned and started to run in the direction the Huntsman had shown him.

When the child disappeared, the Huntsman took a shuddering breath. At least he saved one child, even though the Queen would simply find another one to do her bidding. By that time, he probably won't be in a position to help.

Only seconds later, pain exploded in his chest, in the same way the mirror had shattered against the tree-trunk. He cried out and fell to his knees, and then onto his side in the grass. He thought that it couldn't be worse, but the pain built and built until he couldn't do anything else but scream.

His last thought before he blacked out was that at least he would be free after death.

ooo

"It's hard to believe that something like that could happen in our town." Mary Margaret said after Ruby told her what had happened last night. "But are you all right?"

They met on Main Street, just a few blocks from the diner, as both of them were on their way home. Ruby – uncharacteristically – wore simple jeans, T-shirt and a sweater and she didn't put on any make-up. After yesterday she didn't want to get stared at as usual. Mary Margaret noticed the change, of course and asked what was going on. Ruby wanted to talk to her, anyway, so she gladly told the story. They were best friends after all.

"Yes. I didn't sleep at all, but now I'm much better. I was thinking about how ugly it could have gone if the sheriff hadn't arrived just in time. It's unbelievable that he managed to fight those three bastards on his own. Don't you think I should give him something? Thank him somehow? A cake, or doughnuts? He likes Granny's doughnuts. Maybe I should invite him to dinner…

"Ruby!" Mary Margaret cut her off in a warning tone. "Don't do anything stupid, okay?"

Ruby frowned.

"I didn't say that I would sleep with him. Although, you have to admit that he's hot as hell." she said grinning.

"It's not funny. The sheriff isn't…" she trailed off as if suddenly she didn't know how to finish that sentence.

"I know, don't worry." Ruby said, seriously now.

She wasn't sure, _she _knew why, but the sheriff was off limit. Ruby had a funny feeling, as if he had a sign on him that he was taken. It was strange, because as far as she knew he was single. As she was thinking about this, she glimpsed the subject of their conversation over Mary Margaret's shoulder.

"What is it?" Mary Margaret asked

"The sheriff is coming right there." she said.

Mary Margaret turned that way too, and they watched together as the man came closer. They noticed almost at the same time that something wasn't all right. The man was moving unusually slowly and it looked like he was wobbling.

"Something's wrong." Mary Margaret said just as Ruby saw the redness. The left leg of his jeans – from upper thigh to knee – was drenched in blood.

"Oh my God..." Mary Margaret whispered, so she probably saw it too.

"Call the ambulance" Ruby said and hurried towards Graham. He suddenly stopped and then – to Ruby's honest horror – he collapsed. Ruby was at his side in a second, and she knelt down.

Graham tried to sit up, but without success and his eyes were hazy. He looked at Ruby but she was sure that he didn't recognize her.

"Hey, Graham. Just stay down. Help is on the way." she tried to calm him down.

Ruby had never seen so much blood. One look, and she had to will herself not to vomit. She had no idea how to help.

She felt Mary Margaret step to her side and Graham's eyes suddenly focused on the other woman and his lips moved. Ruby bent closer, trying to hear his words. Ruby heard only one word and then his eyes rolled back, and he went totally limp.

"What did he say?" Mary Margaret asked.

"I think he said snow, but maybe I misunderstood."

"The ambulance is coming." Mary Margaret said. "Shouldn't we do something?"

"I don't dare to touch him." Ruby said. "But I can already hear the sirens."

The ambulance arrived in just a few moments, and the two paramedics started to work immediately. They cut the bloody jeans off and found even more bloodied bandages covering a deep, oozing wound.

"Do you know what happened to him?" The older medic asked, while he was pushing clean gauze against the wound. The other one went back to the ambulance to bring the stretcher.

"No, we just saw him coming down the street and then he collapsed."

The paramedic opened the sheriff's shirt, listened to his heart and checked his breathing. His partner came back too, and he put on a blood-pressure gauge.

"How is he?" Ruby asked.

"His pulse is thready, and he has lost a lot of blood, obviously, but the wound seems manageable." one of them said. "We are taking him in."

Together they loaded the sheriff onto the stretcher and into the vehicle. Ruby watched these all unsettled, then she decided suddenly.

"I'm going with him." she said.

Mary Margaret looked at Ruby in what could be called shock or fear...

"Are you his girlfriend?" the older paramedic asked.

"No, just a friend."

Actually, she wasn't even that, despite the fact that they met every day. The sheriff saved her life, though and if anyone then he deserved somebody to be there for him when he needed help. The paramedic hesitated only for a second, then shrugged.

"Hop in, then!" he said.

The road to the hospital and what came after was a blur. Graham was whisked away, but for a while, Ruby could see Doctor Whale and two nurses working on him. Finally, one of the nurses closed the blinds, and Ruby was left alone to wait. She sat there for a while immersed in thoughts and worries, before remembering to call Granny and explain where she was and not to worry. After what seemed like hours - and probably was - Doctor Whale came out. Unlike the sheriff, Doctor Whale was someone Ruby flirted with many times and more. The man shared Ruby's opinion on one-night stands, so they had spent more than one night together, maintaining a casual relationship, otherwise.

"Hey, Ruby" he started. "I heard you came in with the sheriff."

"Yes, I did. Is he okay?"

"Yes. He needed minor surgery to repair the damage to his thigh, but he will be all right after getting some blood and antibiotics. He's sleeping right now. As far as I know he doesn't have any family but it would be better if he didn't wake up alone. So, you could go in there if you wanted. "

"Gladly." she answered.

She was led into a standard hospital room with three beds but only one was occupied. The doctor checked the machine next to the bed and nasal cannula that was administered, then he left. Ruby sat down on the plastic chair next to the bed and looked the patient up and down.

Graham was pale and to Ruby he looked surprisingly vulnerable especially considering how she remembered him from the night before. She realized again how little she knew about the sheriff. He came to the diner every day, but their interactions never went farther then small talk. He was always kind and friendly but never shared any private information. He always had lunch at the diner and sometimes dinner too. Ruby guessed as a bachelor, he didn't care much for cooking, but he always ate alone. Everyone greeted him, he often shared a few words with people, but Ruby has never seen him with anyone who seemed more than a casual acquaintance. Maybe, she should change that when he was released from hospital. Everyone needed friends, especially someone who didn't have a family.

"I hope you get better soon." she said to the unconscious man. "I want to thank you properly, you know. Invite you for a dinner maybe. Not like a date, don't get me wrong, just a friendly meal. Maybe Granny could be there too... I'm sure she would smother you in her gratefulness."

She continued in that manner for at least an hour, talking about everything and nothing, making sure that the injured man heard a friendly voice while resting. She was watching him closely, so she noticed immediately when Graham moved. It didn't seem though as if he was waking up, it looked more like as if he was in pain. He moaned and Ruby stood to lean in closer.

She jumped back, though, as suddenly, the machines started to beep in warning, and the line monitoring the patient's heartbeat went crazy.

TBC

**AN 2:** There's only one more chapter to go. It will be up this weekend, I promise. But before I finish posting this story I'd like to ask a question. I'm not really sure how many people actually read (and like) this story because it didn't get that many reviews. I liked writing it though and I have many other ideas. It seems to me that when it comes to Graham only the Emma/Graham stories are really popular. Don't get me wrong, I don't write for the reviews, I write because I enjoy it. But honestly, I'm only interested in Graham/The Huntsman and I'm sure that I won't write any romances. All my ideas are about the Huntsman's life with Regina in the Fairy Tale Land, so Emma definitely won't be in them. (Not that I dislike her or something, it's just that no story-idea popped into my head with her.) So, after this long ramble my question is:

Are you interested in stories about the Huntsman without any 'shipping? (There will be other characters of course but **no** love-interest!) I'll probably write at least one more story anyway, but I'm curious.

Thank you for reading and please let me know what you think!


	10. Chapter 10

**AN: This is the last chapter of this story. I hope you will like it. If so – as always – let me know. Once again I'd like to thank my beta readers who made this story much better. **

**Enjoy!**

**Chapter 10.**

Queen Regina was pacing in the throne room when a guard came in and reported that the troop that was sent after her wayward pet was back. It was just on time, too. When her djinn appeared and explained what the Huntsman had done, she got so angry that she could barely see. She took out the Huntsman's heart immediately and actually threw it against the stone wall, not once but three times. That calmed her down enough to think more rationally. She squeezed the living organ long enough that she was sure that her pet passed out. They had enough experience together by now, so that she knew how far his endurance lasted.

"Tell them to bring him in." she ordered.

Two knights led - or more precisely pulled and shoved - the Huntsman into the room. His wrists were tightly bound by thick ropes, the end of which was in one knight's hand, while the other one pushed him forward by his shoulders. The man looked beaten, his face bruised and tight with pain, his clothes torn. Bloody gashes could be seen through his tattered clothing. The knights obviously worked him over some on their way back.

She wasn't surprised by that. She knew that most of her knights despised the Huntsman. Not just the knights but most people in the castle considered him more animal than human. But the knights were also jealous of him because the Queen let him in her bedchamber and gave him the most special tasks. She actually enjoyed exploiting the knights' hatred, that's why he ordered the Huntsman to participate in the latest knightly tournaments. The hatred just grew after that, as the Huntsman had beaten all of the knights in archery and most of them in hand to hand combat. He was quite pathetic with the sword but he was making progress with that weapon, too. All in all, the knights – and also the guards – used every opportunity to act out their revenge and this time was no different.

The knights pushed the Huntsman some more, until he fell to his knees in front of Regina. He stayed that way, with his head lowered. Her training had _some _results at least.

"Do you know what happens to pets that turn against their owners?" she asked and then answered her own question. "They are beaten into submission, or put down. I suspect you wish for the latter but you should know by now that it would never be that easy. Sir Ryker, if you would be so kind..." she waved at the knight.

The knight stepped forward and with his mail-gloved hand, he backhanded the Huntsman.

"Again." Regina said.

The second blow knocked the kneeling man to the floor.

"Pull him up." she ordered the other knight but the Huntsman pulled himself back to his knees on his own power, in a very meager act of defiance. "Again, Sir Ryker."

After the eighth hit, the man stayed down. The left side of his face and his beard was drenched in blood from a cut under his eye and from his – probably – broken nose, and he was breathing heavily. Regina waved at the knights to step back. She didn't want her toy to suffer permanent injuries, as she liked his face the was it was.

"You know, while you were away I had time to think about a proper punishment for you." she said conversationally.

She walked over to a side table where the inlaid box containing the Huntsman's heart sat.

"You know, that if I crush your heart you're going to die. Other than that though, I could do anything to it and you would survive. You would of course feel the pain and probably _would_ wish to die, but you will survive. Raise his head so he can see me!" she ordered the knights.

She picked up the heart gently, this time. It was thrilling to feel the power of keeping a living heart in her hand, no matter how many times it happened. At times like these, she could understand her mother a little better, too. She turned back towards her prisoner, and with a deliberately slow motion, pulled a decorating pin from the corset of her dress. The Huntsman flinched – obviously anticipating what was to come -, but he couldn't turn away. Sir Ryker held one hand over his neck, the other grabbed onto his hair and so he was effectively keeping the Huntsman immobile.

She plunged the pin into the heart, pushing it in deep, so only the black head of it could be seen. The man on the floor shuddered and gasped in pain, his face went pale under all the blood.

"I will tell you again; you can try as hard as you'd like to defy me or escape me, but you will always belong to me. This pin stays here until I decide that you have learned your lesson. And don't think that this makes me happy. It actually saddens me that I still have to resort to such ugly methods."

At this point the man's eyes were glazed over with pain, but she was positive that her message was understood.

The Huntsman was a wild thing - that was what made him so entertaining and also useful to her. She didn't want him broken, just tamed to her own will and no one else's. Regina thought of the Huntsman as kind of an attack dog – or wolf, in his case – who was obedient to his master, but dangerous to anyone else. She had thought that they had already reached that point, but obviously not. Despite the fact that the man was brought up in the wilderness by animals, he seemed to be more compassionate than anyone else in the castle. Even his heart being ripped out, didn't really make him as emotionless as Regina wanted him to be. But it definitely gave her a power over him that he couldn't withstand, no matter how hard he tried. They had time to work on the obedience thing, though and she could be creative in her training methods.

She turned to the knights.

"Take him to the dungeons and chain him in a cell until I order otherwise."

ooo

Sydney was the one who informed Regina about the Sheriff.

As a volunteer deputy, Sidney was the emergency contact for Graham, so he was notified by Doctor Whale, when the sheriff was found injured. Sidney called Regina from the sheriff's department and told that Graham was in the hospital, and also that he had left something for Regina in the office. She hoped that he had found the blueprints and that's what he had left for her. She hurried to the Sheriff's office immediately.

When she arrived at the department, she found Sidney sitting at the sheriff's desk, writing in one of his notebooks. She noted absentmindedly that both jail cells were occupied. She threw a only a quick, disgusted look at the men in the cells and then burst into the office without knocking.

"Where is it?" she asked.

Sidney looked up, surprised.

"Regina! I thought you were going to the hospital." he said and actually smiled.

She didn't smile back, of course. Sidney was hopelessly in love with her in this world, too and Regina wasn't squeamish about exploiting that love, but she never encouraged it. She knew that Sidney had his suspicions about her and Graham and that made him extremely jealous of the sheriff. So it was probably a bit cruel that Regina insisted on him becoming a volunteer deputy, but she wanted an eye on Graham, just in case.

"I will, after I have the package Graham left for me." she said., shooting down Sidney's hopes again.

"Oh. It's here." he said as he pulled the leather roll from under the desk.

"Did you open it?"

"No, I didn't. It seemed personal." he answered with a slight frown.

"Good" she took the package and turned her back on Sidney before unrolling the blueprints.

Everything was in there, undamaged. She looked over every sheet and sighed in relief. She started to roll up the papers again when she saw something at the edge of the plan of the crypt.

Her relief turned into dark fury.

What she saw was a bloody fingerprint, faint but definitely there.

It was so like Graham to do something like this. Always disobeying her at the worst moments. _Did he go to the crypt, too?_ she wondered. Regina had to find out right now. She rolled up the blueprints and rushed out of the station without saying another word to Sidney, actually she had already forgotten that the man was even there.

She arrived at the cemetery in record time. She opened the secret passageway and hurried down to the vaults. She wouldn't have noticed the signs of someone being there if she hadn't been looking for them specifically. But, after a thorough investigation, she found some blood on the floor and also on one of the cases. The one case Graham should have never touched. She had no idea what consequence this would have, but nothing good for sure. In the worst case scenario, Graham would remember everything, but even if not, he would surely have questions.

She opened the case with dark resolution, and pulled the heart from it. It was still glowing with the same brightness it had when she ripped it out. It was probably the brightest heart she has ever seen and sometimes she admitted to herself that it was maybe better that the Huntsman had spared Snow White. He was a good catch, really.

But now it had to be over.

With resolution, she squeezed the heart.

She felt it flutter under her fingers and suddenly- just on the edge of crushing the organ – she felt that she had to stop. Killing Graham was not something she was prepared to do. It would be a waste really, because Graham was useful in more ways than one. He kept order in town, he did her bidding - most of the times - and he was a lover who never asked for anything.

Her eyes wandered over to the small alcove on the opposite side of the chamber and landed on a green vial sitting there. Maybe there was another solution for the situation. She released the heart and put it back onto the silk pillow almost gently.

The green liquid was a very complicated memory potion that would made it possible for Regina to control what Graham remembered and how he remembered it.

With the vial secure in her pocket, she closed down the chamber and the crypt, and then drove to the hospital.

To her dismay she found that slut Ruby in Graham's room.

"What the hell are you doing here?" she snapped at her.

She looked up like a frightened rabbit, her eyes wide and red-rimmed. She had clearly been crying. Regina didn't like that. She never liked when someone started to care for what was hers.

"I... found him like this and I didn't want to leave him alone. And then his heart stopped and..."

"Well, he's obviously not alone anymore. I'm here now, and Doctor Whale said that he is going to be fine. His heart is better now, as well. So leave and don't come back." she said.

Ruby went red and seemed like she wanted to say something but then simply lowered her eyes, picked up her sweater and left.

Regina closed the door behind her and pulled out the vial. She opened it and bent over the prone body of the sheriff. She needed only a few drops in his mouth and then she had to concentrate on what she wanted; Graham to forget that he had seen the blueprints or that he went to the vaults. She wanted him to remember that he owed his obedience to her and only to her. With the power of the potion she would regain control over his mind... if everything goes well.

After she had made Graham swallow three drops of the green liquid, she sat down and waited patiently. She even held his hand for a while and whispered a few encouraging words.

Graham woke hours later. His eyes were tired but found Regina's face unerringly.

She saw no accusation and no suspicion there, just some confusion.

"What happened?" he asked quietly and in a hoarse voice.

"Don't you remember?" Regina asked with pretended worry.

His eyes moved around the room, then zeroed back on her.

"I got stabbed?" he asked hesitantly, clearly expecting the answer from her. And that was good. That was what she wanted.

"Yes, but you are going to be all right. You should rest now some more." she said and squeezed his hand.

"Are you going to stay for a while?" he asked, his eyes already dropping.

"Yes, I will stay." she said and half asleep Graham smiled at her with utter devotion.

Her magic worked perfectly.

THE END

**Thanks to those who reviewed the last chapter and answered my question. I already have an outline for the next story, so there will definitely be a next story.**


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